If superspreading had been completely controlled, almost two thirds of the infections might have been prevented, scientists said in the study. The researchers also noted that their findings were conservative, since they only focused on people who had been buried safely. This suggests that the role of superspreaders may have been even more profound than this research indicates.

If your 6 year-old goes to school when he/she is actively infectious with “?” then she/he is a superspreader. In short, this is not anything new – it is how disease spreads normally. But to use a special term – superspreader, it sounds new and perhaps more dangerous. It also takes precious attention away from the impact of the facts that greater numbers of infections have a lot to do with modern mobility, humans invading natural landscape in greater numbers, and the over use of anti-bacterials in medicine and agriculture.